Stretching or pulling apparatus



Oct. 11, 1949.

M. E. SINGLETQN STRETCHING OR PULLING APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledJan. 31, 1947 Q I Q? Q h 1r 1 I fl/a/rahazz Singleiqn m mm W WW A Norney:

Patented Oct. 11, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

This invention relates to a novel construction of manually operatedapparatus especially adapted for stretching wire, such as fence wire,but which may also be utilized as a pulling implement for moving heavyobjects short distances.

It is a primary object of the present invention to provide an apparatuscapable of being operated by one man and which may be locked in anydesired position so that while stretching a wire fence, or a pluralityof strands of fence wire, after the proper tension has been obtained theapparatus can be locked so that the fence or wire strands may beanchored to a fence post.

Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus the parts ofwhich may be disposed in either a horizontal or vertical plane, or anydesired angle therebetween when in use.

Still a further object of the invention is to provide a pulling orstretching apparatus having a clamping means of extremely simpleconstruction which will effectively function for engaging and clampingone or a plurality of strands of wire, or a portion of a wire fence, orother flexible member, and which is so constructed and arranged that itwill be tightened by the stress exerted thereon when the apparatus isactuated for securely holding the elements clamped therein.

Still a further object of the invention is to provide an apparatuswherein a common chain may be utilized as the connection between partsof the apparatus which are drawn together or toward one another in thenormal actuation of the device.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafterbecome more fully apparent from the following description of thedrawings, illustrating a preferred embodiment thereof, wherein:

Figure 1 is a top plan view showing the apparatus or device in anoperative position;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary bottom plan view, partly in section, of aportion thereof;

Figure 3 is a side elevational View of another portion of the apparatusshown in an operative position;

Figures 4 and 5 are sectional views on enlarged scales, takensubstantially along the planes as indicated by the lines 4-4 and 55,respectively, of Figure 1;

Figure 6 is a cross sectional view through the actuating lever takensubstantially along the plane as indicated by the line 6-6 of Figure 4;

Figure 7 is a longitudinal sectional view of the lever takensubstantially along a plane as indi cated by the line 1-! of Figure 4;

Figure 8 is a plan view showing the clamp in an open position andlooking toward the inner sides of the sections thereof;

Figure 9 is an enlarged cross sectional view of the clamp takensubstantially along a plane as indicated by the line 9-9 of Figure 3,and

Figure 10 is a similar view taken substantially along a plane asindicated by the line lfl-l0 of Figure 3.

Referring to the drawings, the stretching or pulling apparatus or devicein its entirety is designated generally l2 and includes an actuatingunit, designated generally I3 and a clamping unit, designated generallyI 4.

The actuating unit is includes a substantially flat frame l5 whichcomprises a bar portion 16 having a lateral extension ll which projectsfrom one side edge thereof and intermediate of the ends of the barportion [6. One end of the bar portion I6 is provided with an integrallatch segment l8 which projects laterally therefrom in the samedirection as the extension I1 and which is provided with an outer convextoothed edge [9. The bar portion l6, adjacent the ends thereof, has twoshort lengths of chains anchored thereto and which converge and arejoined at their free ends by a ring 2! which is also connected to oneend of a chain 22, provided with a hook 23 at its opposite end and whichmay also be provided, intermediate of its ends, with a second hook 24for adjusting the length of the chain 22. The chain 22 is adapted toengage around an anchoring member such as the upright post 25; saidchain being fastened therearound and the hook 23 being engaged with thering H for anchoring the frame 15 to the post.

An elongated lever 26 is pivotally connected by a fastening El, adjacentone end thereof to one side of the extension ll, near its free end. Asbest seen in Figure 2, a bar 28 is secured by fastenings 29 to the sameside of the extension I1 and bar portion l6 and has an offset end whichoverlies the pivoted portion of the lever 26 and through which the pivotfastening 2'! extends so that the lever is pivotally mounted between theextension ll and the offset end 30 of the bar 28. The longer end of thelever 26 extends across the complementary side of the latch segment [8and to substantially therebeyond and is provided at its free end with ahandle or grip portion 3|.

The lever 26, adjacent to but outwardly of the toothed edge 19 of thelatch segment i8 is provided with a pair of nut and bolt fastenings 32which extend therethrough and which are disposed in longitudinallyspaced relationship. A bar 33 is disposed on the upper side of the lever26 thereof and in substantially the same plane as the latch segment I8.As best seen in Figures 6 and 7, the bar 33 is provided with alongitudinal slot 34 for loosely receiving the shanks f the fastening 32which carry bushings or sleeves which are disposed in said slot forguiding the sliding movement of the bar 33 longitudinally of the lever25. The bar 33 is provided with a single extension or tooth 33 at itsinner end which is adapted to engage between any two of the teeth I9 forlocking the lever 25 to the latch segment l8. An expansion coil spring3'? is disposed in the slot 34, between its inner end and the bushing35, adjacent thereto, for urging the bar or plunger 33 toward aprojected position, as-seen in Figure '7. An elongated plate 38 issecured against the upper, exposed side of the plunger or bar 33 byengagement with. the fastening 32 and overlies the slot 33 for retainingthe spring 37 therein. A recessed portion 33 at one end of the plate 33overlies a portion of the toothed edge IQ of the latch segment r3 andcombines with the lever 25 to retain the plunger 33 properly positionedwith respect to said latchsegment.

A'conventional grip lever is pivotally mounted on the lever .25 at 4|and is disposed adjacent the grip portion 3!. A rigid link 42 ispivotally connected at one end'thereof to the grip lever and at itsopposite end to the outer end of the plunger 33 whereby when the handleportion 43 of the grip lever 40 is grasped and moved toward the grip 3i,the plunger 33 will be retracted against the action of the spring 37 formoving its tooth or extension 35 out of engagement with the teeth It topermit the lever 26 to swing freely on its pivot 21 and relatively tothe frame l5. thus be readily apparent that the lever 26 is normallyheld by the spring 3? in a latched position with respect to the framel5.

A pair of corresponding hooks 44 and '45 are pivotally mounted at theirshank ends on the lever '25 and at points equally spaced from the pivot21 and one on either side thereof. Said hooks are each provided with abifurcated shank end 45 in which a portion of the lever 26 is received;A nut and bolt or other suitable fastenthe outer side of its associatedhook for urging the free ends of the hooks inwardly or toward oneanother. The hooks 44, 45 are provided with inturned, bifurcated clawsor bills 5! at their opposite, free ends the spaced furcations of whichform slots 52 which are disposed in substantially the same plane, for apurpose to hereinafter become apparent.

The clamp unit l 4 as best seen in Figures 3, 8, 9 and 10 includes apair of elongated bars 53 and 54 having substantially flat inner,adjacent faces 55 and 56, respectively and outer surfaces 51, and 58,respectively, which converge toward corresponding side edges of saidbars so that the bars are thicker adjacent one side edge thereof thanadjacent the opposite side edge. A heavy gauge wire strand 59 is securedtransversely across each of the outer sides 57 and 58 adjacent each endthereof and intermediate of said ends by staples 63. The strands 59 havecomplementary hook shaped ends 6i which interlock intermediate of ItWill 4 the wider edges of the bars 53 and 54 and the strands 59 of thebar 53 are provided with eyes 62 at their opposite ends which projectoutwardly from said side 51 thereof, adjacent the narrow edge of saidbar. The strands 59 of the bar 54 are provided with hooks or open rings53 at their opposite ends and which are correspondingly disposed to theeyes 62.

A ring 54 is connected to corresponding ends of three lengths of chainsincluding two outer and longer lengths of chains 65 and an intermediateand shorter length of chain 66 said lengths of chain are each providedwith a ring 67 at the opposite-end thereof, to each of which rings 61two links 68 are separately connected. One of the links 58 of the chain66 is connected to the eye 62 of one of the intermediate strands 59 andthe other link 68 of the chain 55 is detachably connected to the openring or hook 63 of the other intermediate strand 59. The links 38 of thechain lengths 55 are connected to complementary eyes and hooks of theother strands 53, as :best illustrated in Figure 3. It will thus bereadily apparent that when a pull is exerted on the ring 64 in adirection away from the clamp bars 53 and 54, the links 58 of the chains55 and 66 will tend to draw the inner faces 55 and 55 of said bars intoabutting engagement with said bars pivoting on the interengaged hooks6|. The abutting face 55 is provided with a series of diagonallydisposed grooves 63 which combine to form a serrated surface thereof, asclearly illustrated in Figure 8 and which functions with the smoothsurface 55 to eifectively grip one or a plurality of strands of wire 13or other flexible member or members or a portion of a wire fence,notshown.

The bar 53 is also provided with longitudinally spaced transverselydisposed closed slots ll, located adjacent the narrow edge thereof andwhich register with similarly disposed slots 12 of the bar 54 and whichslots 12 open outwardly of the narrow edge of said last mentioned bar.The slots ll loosely receive the shanks of nut and bolt fastenings 33which may be loosened for de-.

tachably engaging the slots 12 and thereafter tightened to affordadditional means for holding the clamping bars 53 and 54 in clampingengagement with the strand or strands l3 and which may be readilyloosened and swung out of engagement with the slots 72 to permit thebars 53 and 54 to be swung to open, extended positions as seen in Figure8. In order to permit the bars 53 and 54 to be swung into position as inFigure 8, the links 68, engaging the open rings or hooks 53 are disengaged therefrom thus leaving the chains 65 and 65 connected only tothe bar 53 when the clamp I4 is opened. A pulling chain 14 is providedwith a hook '55 at one end thereof adapted to be detachably engaged withthe ring 54.

As best seen in Figure 6, the plunger bar 33 is preferably provided withdepending side flanges 16 for engaging the side edges of the lever 26for assisting in guiding the plunger 33 in its sliding movementlongitudinally of said lever.

As previously described, the clamp I4 is adapted to be engaged with oneor a plurality of strands of wire H1 or with other element or elementsto be pulled and one of the links of the chain 74 is then engaged withthe slot 52 and one of the claws 5|, for connecting the actuating unitl3 to the clamping unit I4. The actuating unit l3 being anchored by thechain 22 to the post 25 is thus supported, as illustrated in Figure 1,suspended between said post and the chain 14 and through the chain 14and the member or members 10, to be pulled, supports the clamping unitl4 suspended. The slots 52 of the claw 5| which is engaged with thechain 14, engages a link thereof which is disposed in substantially thesame plane as the hook of said claw. Assuming that the hook 45 isengaged with one of the chain links, as illustrated in Figure 1, toexert a pulling force on the draft chain 74, the grip portion 43 ismanually moved toward the lever handle 3| to release the lever from thelatch segment I8 and said lever is then swung clockwise, as seen inFigure 1, for moving the hook 45 rearwardly or toward the post and formoving the hook 44 in the opposite direction. The spring 48 of the hook44 will urge the claw 4| thereof toward the chain 74, as said claw isadvanced along the chain and thus causing the outer side of said claw toride over the vertically disposed chain links and into engagement withthe horizontally disposed chain links, when it reaches its most advancedposition. When the lever 26 is rocked in the opposite direction, thehook 44 will function to draw the chain 74 toward the actuating unit l3and will also cause the hook 45 to be cammed out of engagement with thechain link, previously engaged thereby, and to be advanced past the hook46 for thereafter engaging another horizontal disposed link of the chain14. By this step by step movement, the chain 14 is drawn toward theactuating unit I3 for pulling the clamping unit l4 toward the post 29for pulling or tensioning the strand or strands 10. If the strand Illforms a part of a wire fence, after it has been tensioned to the desiredextent, the hand grip 43 can be released to permit the lever 26 to beautomatically latched to the latch segment l8 for retaining the parts ina position to which they have been manually moved and in which positionsthey will be retained while the strand or strands I0 are secured to afence post, not shown.

While the unit l3 has been illustrated in a horizontal position and theunit l4 in a vertical position, it will be obvious that these parts canbe disposed at any angles desired.

It will be readily obvious that by the same operation, as previouslydescribed, the apparatus l2 could be utilized for pulling heavy loadsshort distances.

Various modifications and changes are contemplated and may obviously beresorted to, without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention as hereinafter defined by the appended claim.

I claim:

A stretching or pulling apparatus comprising,

in combination with a clamping unit adapted to be detachably connectedand clamped to an element to be stretched or pulled, an actuating unitincluding a frame adapted to be detachably anchored to a retainingmember, a lever swingably connected to the frame, hooks pivotallyconnected to the lever on opposite sides of the pivot thereof and havingslotted claws, a flexible member connected at one end thereof to theclamping unit and having spaced portions constructed and arranged to beengaged by the slots of the claws, said lever being manually swingablerelatively to the frame for advancing the hooks in a step-by-stepmovement whereby the slotted portions of the claws thereof will beadvanced alternately one beyond the other for drawing the flexiblemember toward the frame for exerting a pulling action on the clampingunit, said frame including a transverse portion to which said retainingmember is anchored, a bar portion projecting therefrom in a directionaway from the retaining member and to which the lever is pivoted, and alatched segment portion forming an integral part of the frame anddisposed substantially parallel to the bar portion thereof and overwhich a part of the longer end of the lever is swingably disposed, saidlatched segment portion having an outer convex toothed edge, and amanually retractable spring projected latch slidably mounted on thelonger end of the lever for normally latching the lever to the frame tohold said lever against swinging movement.

MARSHALL E. SINGLETON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 779,218 Harlan Jan. 3, 1905830,553 Adam Sept. 11, 1906 1,126,393 Chrisco Jan. 26, 1915 1,258,598Monteith Mar. 5, 1918 1,273,889 Logan July 30, 1918 1,359,160 Erway Nov.16, 1920 1,804,502 Jarvis May 12, 1931 1,888,209 Krebs Nov. 22, 1932FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 107,457 Great Britain July 5, 1917

